Village Farms responds to the Value Consumer Trend with full line of Products in Value-Added Packaging

In keeping with the consumer trend toward value and convenience in the face of the new economy, Village Farms has now added all new value-added packaging to their full line of Tomato, Sweet Bell Pepper, and Cucumber retail product offerings. In addition, Village Farms has enhanced its packaging capabilities to service its value added business at all its distribution centers in the USA and Canada to meet the growing demand from its customers.

According to Doug Kling, Senior VP & Chief Marketing Officer, “Village Farms’ value added packaging capabilities are state of the art and ready to handle volume”. Recent retail quarterly (52 weeks ending June 26, 2010) consumer scanner data from Perishables Group FreshFacts® Powered by Nielsen shows Tomatoes ranking third among all fresh produce items purchased. In addition, the Hothouse Tomato segment has captured more than half of sales dollars (51%) and only slightly less of the volume (43%) for all fresh tomatoes purchased. The Hothouse Sweet Bell Pepper and Hothouse Cucumber segments are seeing strong growth particularly in value-added packs. In response to this trend, Village Farms has expanded its product offerings to include a number of new value-added products.

Tomatoes items include; Tomato-on-the-Vine in 2-lb. clamshells, Roma tomatoes in 2-lb. clamshells, and Beefsteak tomatoes in 3-lb clamshells. Village Farms is also offering Sweet Bell Peppers in 2-lb. and 6-count zippered tamper proof bags. These are available in 3 color options; Red, Yellow-Orange, and Red-Yellow-Orange. Village Farms is offering Long English Cucumbers in 2-count and 3-count pack sizes. Other new value-added items for Village Farms include Mini-Cucumbers in 8-count trays and 2-lb. zippered tamper proof bags.